Title 15, Commerce and TradeRelease 119-110
§719f Congressional Review
Title 15 › CHAPTER 15C — ALASKA NATURAL GAS TRANSPORTATION › § 719f
Summary
When the President picks a plan for an Alaska natural gas pipeline, that choice becomes effective if both Houses of Congress pass a joint resolution approving it during the first 60 calendar days of continuous session that start the day after Congress gets the President’s decision. If Congress does not pass such a resolution in that 60-day period, the President has up to 30 days after that to send a new decision with a written explanation. The new decision must be sent to both Houses the same day and follows the same approval timing. If either House already voted down a resolution about the President’s decision, the President can only send a new decision if it is meaningfully different from the earlier one. For counting the 60 days, a session only ends if Congress adjourns sine die, and days when either House is out for more than three days to a set date do not count. Congress sets special rules for how these approval resolutions are handled. Each resolution goes to committee, and if a committee does not act within 30 days anyone supporting the resolution can move to force it out of committee; that motion gets no more than 1 hour of debate split evenly. Once a committee has reported or been discharged, a motion to consider the resolution is privileged and not debatable. Debate on the main resolution is limited to 10 hours (or 1 hour for a law-waiver resolution), split equally for and against. Amendments, motions to recommit, and most reconsiders are not allowed, and many procedural motions or appeals must be decided without debate. The President must also say that any environmental impact statement for the chosen system was prepared and meets NEPA, and may add to or change that statement. The environmental review must be sent with the President’s decision. Within 20 days of the President’s transmittal, the Commission must send Congress a report, the Council on Environmental Quality must gather public views and report them, and the relevant congressional committees must hold hearings to review the environmental statement. Finally, the President may propose specific legal waivers to speed construction; those waivers follow the same congressional approval rules and shorter debate time.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §719f
Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Effectiveness of decision designating transportation system for approval upon enactment of joint resolution
Any decision under section 719e(a) of this title or subsection (b) designating for approval a transportation system for the delivery of Alaska natural gas shall take effect upon enactment of a joint resolution within the first period of 60 calendar days of continuous session of Congress beginning on the date after the date of receipt by the Senate and House of Representatives of a decision transmitted pursuant to section 719e(b) of this title or subsection (b) of this section.
(b)New decision: statement of reasons for proposal; transmittal to Congress
If the Congress does not enact such a joint resolution within such 60-day period, the President, not later than the end of the 30th day following the expiration of the 60-day period, may propose a new decision and shall provide a detailed statement concerning the reasons for such proposal. The new decision shall be submitted in accordance with section 719e(a) of this title and transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate on the same day while both are in session and shall take effect pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. In the event that a resolution respecting the President’s decision was defeated by vote of either House, no new decision may be transmitted pursuant to this subsection unless such decision differs in a material respect from the previous decision.
(c)Sessions of Congress
For purposes of this section
(1)
(2)the days on which either House is not in session because of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain are excluded in the computation of the 60-day calendar period.
(d)Rules under rulemaking powers of Congress; change of rules; “resolution” defined; referral to Congressional committees; debate limitation; motion for consideration of resolution; debate on resolution; nondebatable motions and appeals from procedural decisions
(1)This subsection is enacted by Congress—
(A)as an exercise of the rulemaking power of each House of Congress, respectively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of resolutions described by paragraph (2) of this subsection; and it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent therewith; and
(B)with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as those rules relate to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of such House.
(2)For purposes of this chapter, the term “resolution” means (A) a joint resolution, the resolving clause of which is as follows: “That the House of Representatives and Senate approve the Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system submitted to the Congress on _____, 19 , and find that any environmental impact statements prepared relative to such system and submitted with the President’s decision are in compliance with the Natural Environmental Policy Act of 1969.”; the blank space therein shall be filled with the date on which the President submits his decision to the House of Representatives and the Senate; or (B) a joint resolution described in subsection (g).
(3)A resolution once introduced with respect to a Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system shall be referred to one or more committees (and all resolutions with respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system shall be referred to the same committee or committees) by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.
(4)(A)If any committee to which a resolution with respect to a Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system has been referred has not reported it at the end of 30 calendar days after its referral, it shall be in order to move either to discharge such committee from further consideration of such resolution or to discharge such committee from consideration of any other resolution with respect to such Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system which has been referred to such committee.
(B)A motion to discharge may be made only by an individual favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported a resolution with respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system), and debate thereon shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to or disagreed to.
(C)If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed to, the motion may not be made with respect to any other resolution with respect to the same Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system.
(5)(A)When any committee has reported, or has been discharged from further consideration of, a resolution, but in no case earlier than 30 days after the date of receipt of the President’s decision to the Congress, it shall be at any time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. The motion shall be highly privileged and shall not be debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to or disagreed to.
(B)Debate on the resolution described in paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection shall be limited to not more than 10 hours and on any resolution described in subsection (g) to one hour. This time shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing such resolution. A motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. An amendment to, or motion to recommit the resolution shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which such resolution was agreed to or disagreed to or, thereafter within such 60-day period, to consider any other resolution respecting the same Presidential decision.
(6)(A)Motions to postpone, made with respect to the discharge from committee, or the consideration of a resolution and motions to proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided without debate.
(B)Appeals from the decision of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedures relating to a resolution shall be decided without debate.
(e)Presidential finding respecting and supplementation or modification of environmental impact statement; submittal to Congressional committees
The President shall find that any required environmental impact statement relative to the Alaska natural gas transportation system designated for approval by the President has been prepared and that such statement is in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]. Such finding shall be set forth in the report of the President submitted under section 719e of this title. The President may supplement or modify the environmental impact statements prepared by the Commission or other Federal officers or agencies. Any such environmental impact statement shall be submitted contemporaneously with the transmittal to the Senate and House of Representatives of the President’s decision pursuant to section 719e(b) of this title or subsection (b) of this section.
(f)Report of Commission: submittal to Congress; Council on Environmental Quality: hearings, report, submittal to Congress; Congressional committee hearings
Within 20 days of the transmittal of the President’s decision to the Congress under section 719e(b) of this title or under subsection (b) of this section, (1) the Commission shall submit to the Congress a report commenting on the decision and including any information with regard to that decision which the Commission considers appropriate, and (2) the Council on Environmental Quality shall provide an opportunity to any interested person to present oral and written data, views, and arguments on any environmental impact statement submitted by the President relative to any system designated by him for approval which is different from any system reported on by the Commission under section 719c(c) of this title, and shall submit to the Congress a report summarizing any such views received. The committees in each House of Congress to which a resolution has been referred under subsection (d)(3) shall conduct hearings on the Council’s report and include in any report of the committee respecting such resolution the findings of the committee on the legal and factual sufficiency of any environmental impact statement submitted by the President relative to any system designated by him for approval.
(g)Waiver; submittal to Congress
(1)At any time after a decision designating a transportation system is submitted to the Congress pursuant to this section, if the President finds that any provision of law applicable to actions to be taken under subsection (a) or (c) of section 719g of this title require waiver in order to permit expeditious construction and initial operation of the approved transportation system, the President may submit such proposed waiver to both Houses of Congress.
(2)Such provision shall be waived with respect to actions to be taken under subsection (a) or (c) of section 719g of this title upon enactment of a joint resolution pursuant to the procedures specified in subsections (c) and (d) of this section (other than subsection (d)(2) thereof) within the first period of 60 calendar days of continuous session of Congress beginning on the date after the date of receipt by the Senate and House of Representatives of such proposal.
(3)The resolving clause of the joint resolution referred to in this subsection is as follows: “That the House of Representatives and Senate approve the waiver of the provision of law ( ) as proposed by the President, submitted to the Congress on , 19 .” The first blank space therein being filled with the citation to the provision of law and the second blank space therein being filled with the date on which the President submits his decision to the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(4)In the case of action with respect to a joint resolution described in this subsection, the phrase “a waiver of a provision of law” shall be substituted in subsection (d) for the phrase “the Alaska natural gas transportation system.”.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in subsecs. (d)(2) and (e), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§ 4321 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer of Functions
The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for certain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by section 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a)(1), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. Congressional Approval of Presidential Recommendations for Waiver of Law To Permit Expeditious
Construction
and Initial Operation of System Pub. L. 97–93, Dec. 15, 1981, 95 Stat. 1204, provided: “That the House of Representatives and Senate approve the waiver of the provision of law (Public Law 95–158 [set out as a note below], Public Law numbered 688, Seventy-fifth Congress, second session [section 717 et seq. of this title], and Public Law 94–163 [42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.]) as proposed by the President, submitted to the Congress on
October 15, 1981.” [The Message of the President, dated Oct. 15, 1981, submitting the findings and proposed waiver of law, is set out in 17 Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 1135, Oct. 19, 1981.] Congressional Approval of Presidential Decision on Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System Pub. L. 95–158, Nov. 8, 1977, 91 Stat. 1268, provided: “That the House of Representatives and Senate approve the Presidential decision on an Alaska natural gas transportation system submitted to the Congress on
September 22, 1977, and find that any environmental impact statements prepared relative to such system and submitted with the President’s decision are in compliance with the Natural [National] Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [section 4321 et seq. of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare].”
Executive Documents
Enforcement
functions authorized by, and supplemental
Enforcement
authority created by this chapter with respect to pre-
Construction
,
Construction
, and initial operation of transportation system for Canadian and Alaskan natural gas transferred to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, until first anniversary of date of initial operation of Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, see Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1979, §§ 102(h)(1), 203(a), 44 F.R. 33663, 33666, 93 Stat. 1373, 1376, effective July 1, 1979, set out under section 719e of this title. Office of Federal Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System abolished and functions and authority vested in Inspector transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 3012(b) of Pub. L. 102–486, set out as an Abolition of Office of Federal Inspector note under section 719e of this title. Functions and authority vested in Secretary of Energy subsequently transferred to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects by section 720d(f) of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 719f
Title 15, Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110